I read this piece (self-published in 2012) a couple of times, and I kicked myself during the second read for missing “that hacienda three hours south.” A gaudy mansion in Mexico, behind metal gates and bars. The story begins a few hours later, with Nick, a 19-year-old man and his buddy Cody, puttering along the Mexico-Texas border. Sweating in a car.

And I’m glad I was patient, because (as a reader) I took a heart-breaking road trip through the desert with passengers Nick, Cody, and Rose; saw reflections—maybe a mirage—and I heard Singer ply through his trade with pinpoint dialogue that at times stabbed a D-2 grid-box out of the map in my hands. Besides the great dialogue, there is “a searing” across roadsides, in things real and imagined: the Greek myth of Narcissus deftly employed in stages—look for mirrors and mirrors of meaning behind glass that glints back: a back to friendship; and on never returning same (The Cody-Nick flashback was terse, touching).

Thirdly, I enjoyed Singer’s slipstream storytelling, the way the cobra slithers back, and I found my pleasure greatly enhanced once I took the cycle roads; accepted the true wrap-around nature of “Magdalena.” And while stylistically, it’s not what I’m reading this bus-side, I thought the sense of yearning Singer crafted in Nick was extremely well-drawn, a solid anchor that had me caring, about this protagonist’s pain. A mysterious, ethereal read, for sure. But a road trip I would take yet again.

Length: 7,700 words (approx.)Estimated print length: 30 pages

Price: $2.99 on AmazonSample: 2-3 pages can be downloaded free, which gets you to “a jar filled with…spiders.”

Publication Notes: A version of “Road to Magdalena” first appeared in the Drollerie Press anthology “Playthings of the Gods.”

——————————————————————————————————————-Kevin Singer is an Army veteran and former journalist who is drawn to stories about the strange and supernatural, stories of people rarely noticed. He lives in Jersey City. His contact email is kks21@hotmail.com